.308 Win

[stumpsitter]

Hi, I just bought new Remington Model 750 Woodsmaster carbine in .308, I hunt in northwoods of Wisconsin, which theres mixed woods and conifers swamp. Which grain is best for shot at deer in thick woods? 180 grain? i used to hunting with .30-30 at 170 grain, that load is well known bush gun.

[Cheesehead]

I use 150 grain bullets in my 308. Flatter trajectory and softer recoil are two advantages with the 150. The penetration is adequate for white tail. I also hunt WI and this round works well at all ranges and  as well as any other bullet in the brush.

Cheese

[Smokin Joe]

Cheesehead's right. A .308 150 gn will poleaxe any deer in this country........if you shoot through brush, nothing will work.

[stumpsitter]

Thanks! 

[GeorgiaDave]

Hello from Georgia,

   I have several .308 rifles and love them all. This is my personal favorite cartridge because of the accuracy, reliability, predictability, versatility, ease of reloading and availibility of ammo. My " go to rifle" is a NEF Ultra single shot but I also have a Rem. 742, Savage 112, and Ruger #1.  Each of these rifles has its own preference as to the load it likes.

   When trying to decide the load to use, I feel that the rifle should have the last word. Since I handload, I can try a great number of different configurations with the same weight bullet. My favorite is 165 - 168 gr. bullets in Hornady and Sierra with Varget or H4895 powders. The 168 grain bullets seem to give the best compromise of flat shooting with plenty of mass to efficiently take any large game that I hunt. I load everything from 90 grain carbine bullets to 200 grain round nose bullets but have settled on the Sierra GameKing 168 gr. as my hunting choice.


   Each rifle is an individual which likely has a favorite load. The fun part is finding which one is best. I suggest keeping a detailed log on each gun for the life of the gun. This will allow you to get to know it's likes and just as important the dislikes. It will also let you find a good "back up " load if you run out and can not find your first choice. I try to find at least a few factory loads that group close to my handloads so that I can simply buy them over the counter if need be. I have found the Federal loads to be a good overall choice when matched to the gun.

 
   Good luck with your .308 and choosing a load and always remember that the single most important factor of taking game is the self discipline to wait for the right shot and placing the bullet in the right spot.

Dave

[Coyote Hunter]

stumpsitter -

The 170g bullets in the .30-30 make sense because they carry more energy further than the 150’s or 130s and trajectory doesn’t really become that much of an issue until energy falls below 1,000fpe.  The Winchester Silvertips, for example, drop below 1,000fpe at about 200 yards.  Given a 150 yard zero, the bullet is down less than 5” at 200 yards. 

Last Christmas I picked up a used .308 Win – a Remington M700 BDL in excellent condition.  After some analysis I settled on the 165-168g bullets (AMAX for targets, North Fork and TSX for hunting).  Load development stopped at around 2650fps because accuracy was so good.  The North Fork at 2685fps and TSX at 2653fps deliver 1500fpe at 325 yards and when zeroed for Maximum Point Blank Range for a 6” target, are down only 10” at that range. 

You don’t need North Forks for whitetail but I tend to hunt deer and elk at the same time.  I’d probably go with an AccuBond, InterBond or Scirocco if elk were not in the mix. 

As others have pointed out, bullet weight doesn’t matter much if it’s delivered to the wrong place.

[handirifle]

My local gun shop owner has a pic of a cow elk he killed a couple years ago with his 308 using 165gr Nosler Partitions.  Show was about 175yds, I think, and he said he did not recover the bullet.  She ran about 15yds and piled up.

If 150's are accurate, like joe said, they'll drop any deer out there.

[longwinters]

I have hunted with the 308 for the last couple years.  Always tended to lean towards the 165 grainers, but this year it is still a toss up between 150 Interbonds and 165 partitions.  I really do not think it makes any difference to the deer.  And as previously said bullets will not stay accurate when coming in contact with brush.  I am a real fan of Accubonds for deer hunting, but my 308 does not seem to care for them with the powders etc... that I have worked up loads for.  YMMV.

Long

[NYH1]

I use  Remington's 150 gr. Pointed Soft Point Core-Lokt's in my 308 Win. for deer. They work great. 

[stumpsitter]

I read remington's deer hunting ammo guide, it said, soft pointed core lokt more suitable for dense cover whitetail. Which .308 win. has soft pointed in 180 grains. Will work throu the twigs to knock down the whitetail. What do u guys think?

[Coyote Hunter]

I read remington's deer hunting ammo guide, it said, soft pointed core lokt more suitable for dense cover whitetail. Which .308 win. has soft pointed in 180 grains. Will work throu the twigs to knock down the whitetail. What do u guys think?

My definition of a "brush gun" is one that is short and handy in dense cover, not one that gets hung up every time I try to move.  There aren't any magic "brush" bullets.  If your quarry is more than a couple feet on the other side of the brush its a crap shoot.

[NYH1]

I read remington's deer hunting ammo guide, it said, soft pointed core lokt more suitable for dense cover whitetail. Which .308 win. has soft pointed in 180 grains. Will work throu the twigs to knock down the whitetail. What do u guys think?

My definition of a "brush gun" is one that is short and handy in dense cover, not one that gets hung up every time I try to move.  There aren't any magic "brush" bullets.  If your quarry is more than a couple feet on the other side of the brush its a crap shoot.

I agree 100%!

[nomosendero]

yep!

[T.R.]

150's destroy too much meat to suit me.  At long distance they're fine, but 200 yards or less and the meat damage is quite ghastly.

I prefer the old fashioned round nose 180 grain ammo for my .308 carbine.  The large exposed lead tip opens up fast on impact and hits hard like a much faster 150.  Yet due to its slower velocity and thicker jacket, meat loss is minimized.  I learned this from my Dad years ago: long shots beyond 200 yards for mulies are quite rare.
TR

[jimmyp50]

I have killed most of my deer with a .308 using Remington Coreloc 150 grain, or 180 grain round points.  Shot through the lungs and heart, I can see very little difference in performance at 50 yards or closer... I had one core loc 180 grain shot out of a 30-06 fail to kill a deer shot at an angle through the center of his chest and out the right side, he was shot at 140 yards or so, it made me wonder if that bullet just went through without expanding, I also missed the heart.....  We had to find him and shoot him again, pleanty of blood which sprayed 10 feet behind him and to the right, but no demise with the first shot, he did not want to get up to fast when we found him so he was dying just not fast enough.... most shots I have made with either 150 or 180 grain bullets wind up with a dead deer at the end of the blood trail.   I now shoot WW powerpoint 150 grain bullets store bought from WalMart.  They shoot fine out of my gun. I have been hunting for a while now, most of my 54 years but I have never shot anything through brush so I don't know anything about guns that are supposed to do that.  Personally I would be hard pressed to do this myself.